Business as Usual
by Damned Lolita
Summary: A Rocket's POV. Not quite what you'd expect. Death, destruction, and pestilence... it's all just business as usual.


(Hello! This sick little story is for Leone the Infernal, and the rest of the Ash Haters. I believe we have enough to start a C2 community? Let's try, at least. Yes, I put Muk in this. Poor baby... –huggles Muk- _Ash, you rat bastard_! –sobs-

Muk: Ari doesn't own pokemon.)

I am a Rocket. Not by force. I was one of the best; ruthless, intelligent, and distant. But not cruel. Unlike the sniveling Grunts below me, I did not see capturing pokemon and killing trainers as cruel, or evil. Or even fun.

To me, it was business as usual.

And why shouldn't it be? It was my job, my unquestioning duty to serve Team Rocket and Giovanni. I chose it, it was my path, and if others disagreed, so be it.

Their discrepancies were of no use to me. I simply reload my gun, grab a few more nets, and set out on another mission. Which Giovanni was assigning me now.

"Clyde, you have done impeccably on the past fifteen missions we have sent you on. You have performed every task I have sent you on without question or complaint. Seven years, forty operations, and one thousand kills." Giovanni recited, stroking his Persian.

"And so, while this may seem strange, I ask this of you; a boy named Ash Ketchum has been stirring up trouble for our task force out in Celadon. _Take him out." _I nod.

"And if he travels with others, sir?" I ask reverently. He nods, and leans back, looking thoughtful. And then he grins, face flashing in the shadows.

"Kill them too, and take whatever you want from them. It is of no consequence to my top admin." He leans forward, and a glint of prideful madness rises to the surface of his otherwise unreadable face. I shiver, for that is the face that a prized few have seen at their last.

"You are the perfect Rocket. Unquestioning, calculating, ruthless, cold, and _my highest prize_. This boy had eluded capture from almost all of our members. Except you. If you dispose of him..." He leaned back in his chair, and smirked at me. "You can expect to be named as my successor. Now, go. Our sources say he still in Celadon." I salute, barely keeping in my excitement at being named successor in.

"Yes, sir!" As I head out of his office, I hear him laugh. It's high and cold, and I feel that, in this moment, no matter how brilliant our boss is, he is madness.

But I follow orders. I head to my private room, and grab my finest gun, a work of art rather than a weapon. I set off. Celadon is not far, and I am there in a matter of hours. Sun has set, and Zubat are flitting through the trees. One lands on my shoulder, and I brush it off gently; I've always rather liked them.

I find the boy. The one with black hair and a stupid cap. The would-be Pokemon Master, Ash Ketchum. He is asleep, with the yellow rat they say is impossible to catch curled in the crook of his neck. But I don't shoot him. Not yet. I carry away his pokeballs, and release them a safe distance away. One is a Muk, and he tries to hug me.

"_Master?_" His Translator rasps. "_Will you give Muk a hug_?" My heart goes out to this poor creature, and I indeed hug back. "Do not worry," I whisper. "You'll be out of here soon." It gets me thinking. This is evil. Not Team Rocket. No, evil in that sense is just what one group of people does not like. Evil in it's true form is personified in this sobbing Muk. Neglect, hatred, or worse. Apathy. And they get away with it, for they are the 'good guys'. Who decided that? Them. So of course, they come out on top.

And those they do not like are deemed irrepentably evil. How saddening.

I recall him, and toss out the next pokeball. It is a Charizard. I gasped softly in surprise. How does this boy have one of these powerful creatures?!

He rumbles at me, sheer surprise keeping him from killing me on the spot. "I am here to kill the boy. Do not struggle." To my surprise, the Charizard grins. "_May I help_?" His Translator rumbles. I nod, a bit surprised.

But the help of such a powerful creature would be wonderful. I stride back to the makeshift camp, and load my gun. The clacking noise awakens the boy, who sits up. "Hey, what're you doing?! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" I'm poised to shoot the rat, but the Muk has it covered.

He envelops the Pikachu, wailing, "He always liked you best!"

The Pikachu tries to shock me through the sludge, but it absorbs the attack. Grinning at Muk, I cock the gun, and stride over to the girl, who's still asleep. I pull the trigger, as her eyes open. Ash screams, "Misty!" But it means nothing to her sightless eyes.

I giggle. The noise has woken up the other boy, who I prepare to shoot, but Charizard has me covered. "You could've saved me!" He roars, throwing him up in the air. As his bones crunch on impact, Charizard rumbles, "Yet you did not. Burn in hell."

I am unsurprised by his strength. Tears are running down Ash's face. "Why did you do this?" He sobs. I sighed.

"It's nothing personal, kid." I pull the trigger again.

As his brains plop into his lap, I finish my sentence. "_It's business as usual_."


End file.
